The Exhibition!

These are the other three paintings that I showed at the exhibition...I had five in all. I ended up selling the zebra, and a sunset that I posted a photo of awhile back. :) It was a really great experience, and I met a lot of other artists. It was a long day, but I really enjoyed it. 

I like how this sunset turned out, but it looks COMPLETELY different from the reference. To the point where the only similarity is that it's a beach scene and the land is black. 20x30 inches, 8 hours of work. 

I wanted something bright, cheerful, and Liberian. I based this painting off of a photo I took up in Lofa county, here in Liberia. I really enjoyed the textures in this. 20x20 inches, about 7 hours of work.

This one's small - 8x10 inches, about 5 hours of work. I really enjoy working in black and white. A good friend of mine purchased it on Saturday. :) 

Ocean Wave

My art teacher has been trying to convince me to participate in the biannual Embassy craft fair here in Monrovia. He finally succeeded, and we were scheduled to sell at the one in December. Eight months is plenty of time to prepare, right??

Well, we got switched to the one in May. May 8th, to be precise. In. Ten. Days.

I have two paintings ready.

I'm hoping to do at least five more.

Pray for my soul.

I will be exhibiting the tiger previously posted, and one I just finished - a wave. Also my first completely solo painting. My teacher never touches or fixes my paintings for me, but he does tell me when I'm doing something wrong or gives me advice on what I need to do. It was hard at first to paint without any coaching, but once I got into it there was no going back. :) Pretty happy with how this turned out.

Alona Daire

I've always wanted to try and draw my characters. Well, tonight I did. This is Alona Daire, my MC's ally. She's a serious, quiet person - not shy, just quiet - but has a good sense of humor and is usually willing to try something new.

I started with a reference, just to get the facial structure correct, but then from there I did my own thing. The only thing that looks the same now is the nose. :P

The hair still needs work, but I'm too lazy to do that right now :D

Tiger

So my teacher and I are going to be doing an exhibition this fall, and this is the first of hopefully ten paintings that I will be showing/selling.

When I started this painting. I had no idea how complicated it was, how long it would take - and also how rewarding it would end up being. I am so, so happy with how it turned out. Even if it drove me crazy for awhile there.

This painting took 15+ hours to complete.

Layer #1 was pretty much painting the background black and the rest pale gray. The eyes and nose were lined with black.

Layer #2 I painted all the stripes on. Still wasn't looking great, as the black stripes were transparent and needed another coat.

Layer #3 I went over all the gray areas, texturing it for the fur that was to come, and adding darker and lighter grays for shading. I allowed this to enter the black so that it would look smooth, and then went over the black stripes again, letting the texture enter the gray the way the fur will flow...if that makes any sense. I also shaded the eyes and nose.

Layer #4 I took light gray paint and, with thin strokes, painting fur over all the gray areas between the stripes. Also allowing the gray to enter the black in the direction of the fur.

Layer #5 I went over all the highlights with strokes of white to create the illusion of fur. Entering black where needed.

Layer #6 I took black and used small strokes that entered the gray in the direction of the fur. I also went and painted the eyes again, finished the nose.

Layer #7 was just touching up wherever needed, and then going through the stress of painting the whiskers without messing up the whole painting. o.o And then, of course, signing my work. :3

Horses

Just started using the new sketchbook I got for Christmas...still missing my normal pencil, but I like how these turned out :)

Jane

I've managed to lose both my art pencil and my blending stump...so I resorted to sketching with a plain mechanical pencil and experimenting with cross-hatching. I rather like how it turned out, actually :) 

(Jane Bennett, from Pride and Prejudice)

Experimental Sketches!

Okay, so I've been branching out with my sketching...since my Bristol paper warps here and nothing shades right in this humidity, I can't do my full-blown realistic pencil drawings.

Thus, I've been doing more sketches, and my most recent inspiration has been Studio Ghibli...

Needless to say, HOWL

Like I said, not my normal!! I DID have a reference - I am not capable of watching something and then drawing the characters in a style so completely different from my own. ;) But still, I think it's a good start, and I really love the result.

Also, by Theo's request - Aang, from Avatar: The Last Airbender. :3

Various Paintings

I've gotten several paintings done recently but I've only just now gotten around to posting them. :P

This is a more traditional Liberian painting - less blended. My favorite part is probably the sky...but I also loved doing the grass. My least favorite part would be drawing the boy and trying to get his fishing pole right. :P I have found that details are easy for me...it's straight, simple lines that give me such a hard time. 

Anyway, I took this to a Christmas gift exchange and I'm happy to say it ended up with someone who loves it. ^.^

This one was a commission (!!!) from a good family friend. It's based off of a photo my sister took at the beach here in Liberia. At first I wasn't sure I would like it - after all, the first coat was that ugly pink color that you only find in old lady's bathrooms - but now that I've finished with it I like how...crisp it feels. :3

I sent it back with my brother and sister (who were visiting for Christmas) and it has since been recieved by said friend!

Never judge a painting by it's first coat...for example, this one just below was supposed to be the beginning of a seascape. 

And here, it begins to shape up...the whole first coat done, and second coat and details on the sky.

And this one is an awful photo. For comparision, in reality the finished sky is just as bright as the last picture...I took this photo at night in fluorescent lighting. Bad mistake. I sent it to America with the siblings, so I have no way of taking a better picture.

But still! As you can see, it DID end up being a seascape after all.